NationalField Voted Most Valuable Tech Tool of 2010 Election by Political Organizers From Around the Country

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2010

The data-driven social network created during the 2008 Obama campaign continues to grow

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thousands of organizers representing hundreds of the nation's leading social change organizations recently voted to name NationalField the most valuable tech tool of the 2010 Elections, calling the tool, "a game changer." The New Organizing Institute sponsored the competition during their annual RootsCamp conference at George Washington University. NationalField was among 15 groundbreaking tech tools vying for the title.

"Technological advancements have revolutionized organizing," said the NOI website. "From accessible voter files, to social networking, to online fundraising, there's hardly any aspect of our work that hasn't been profoundly impacted. We're looking for the tools, technologies and resources that help organizers reach farther and engage better."

The company was founded by staff and volunteers of the 2008 Obama for America campaign. It provides a reporting social network for non-profits and political organizations such as the One Campaign, the Sierra Club, Working America at AFL-CIO and the Democratic National Committee, allowing users to report and view data in real-time. Staff and volunteers use NationalField to report on metrics (voters contacted, members recruited, dollars raised) and best practices from the field. By opening up data in an online social platform, more people have access to good data and are therefore able to make better strategic decisions at every level of their organization.

"As a first-time manager on the Obama campaign I found that the real-time updates that I was used to from friends and family on Facebook were not there from my work colleagues. The systems to share reports and updates were old, nonexistent or too difficult to use," said NationalField President, Aharon Wasserman. "With a few all-nighters in a campaign office in Georgia, we created the first iteration of NationalField, a social reporting tool that let people report and analyze the work that was being done in real-time. By the end of the campaign, it was being used by the 7,000 staff members. By 2010 it was being used by most of the progressive movement. We're excited to see where it will go next."

"NationalField allows organizers working across a large geographic area to communicate with other organizers," said Sam Witherbee, Field Director for the DC Project who voted for NationalField. "This changes the game by creating a culture of accountability on a campaign. In the campaign that I used it on, numbers dramatically increased after implementing NationalField."

Founded in 2008 by Aharon Wasserman, Edward Saatchi, and Justin Lewis, NationalField is the social reporting platform for virtually every targeted Democratic campaign as well as large sectors of the progressive movement.